"I don't approve of the trade symbolized by Clark not hearing his name. "

Neither did I. That's exactly the point. It's a brilliant bit of writing. Clark doesn't hear his mother's distress because it's drowned out by the siren song of dead Krypton. That's the kind of bittersweet irony comics does so well...

Let me be more precise: I don't approve of the creative choice embodied in that moment. I think the immediate-term bittersweetness and irony comes at the cost of long-term damage to the character and his fictional world.

I liked Action comics but I was disappointed by how easily Brainiac was beaten (assuming he was, of course) and couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for the sound to travel from Kansas to the Arctic. (And to prove I was a dork I estimated it at about 3 hours)

I've rationalized away Clark's super-senses, at least his hearing, as ridiculously low-level telepathy. You have to be speaking the thought for him to "hear" it, and as he can't delve any deeper into the mind than that then it can be passed off as hearing.